The former Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald, Ohio, just 20 miles from Cincinnati, processed uranium as part of our country's nuclear weapons program from 1951 to 1989. When production at the site ceased, cleanup and environmental remediation began. Today, the once-contaminated site is home to the Fernald Preserve, more than 1,000 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat, covered in seven miles of trails for birders, hikers and photographers.

John A. Ruthven is a naturalist, author, lecturer, and internationally acknowledged master of wildlife art, often called the 20th Century Audubon. In 1974, he led the effort to save the last of the Cincinnati Zoo's 19th century bird pagodas  the one where Martha, the last of the passenger pigeons, had once lived. Mr. Ruthven is the final speaker in the Cincinnati Zoo's Barrows Lecture Series this year (the event is sold out). The Zoo's Thane Maynard talks with John Ruthven, who is the recipient of the 2014 Cincinnati Zoo Wildlife Conservation Award.

In January of this year, Thane Maynard spoke to Joel Greenburg, author of A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction. You can hear that interview by clicking here: Thane and Joel Greenburg

If a Florida vacation is in the plans, you might want to visit Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary on the western side of the Everglades. The sanctuary director, Jason Lauritsen, joins Thane Maynard for this week’sField Notes to talk about their 13,000 acres, some of the wildlife that reside there, and the largest old growth Bald Cypress forest in North America.

The tight economy and rising prices hit everyone and every business, even a national park. Joining Thane Maynard this week is Ken Barrett from the Yellowstone Park Foundation, talking about the need for private funding to help maintain the beauty and integrity of the park. He also talks about his work with the fish population there and the increase in non-native species which are impacting the ecosystem of the native cutthroat trout.